Polar Zone/Sixteen
❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅❄❅ 'Cause it's you and me, and all of the people, with nothing to do, nothing to lose And it's you, and me, and all of the people And I don't know why... I can't keep my eyes off of you — Lifehouse, You and Me ---- EVERLY IT'S HARD TO TELL what's screaming louder, the wind outside or the pain in my bones and head. From what I can tell through the tiniest sliver of sight my tired eyelids afford me, I'm lying inside a narrow cave, the entrance blocked off by a piece of rock. Snow skitters in through the gaps, as does cold air, but I know I'd be a lot colder outside. Which brings up the question of how I got to be inside. Lucifer lies across from me, apparently asleep. It's hard to distinguish from his white pelt, but I notice something glistening along his whiskers and fur, and realize it's ice. Frozen droplets from the swim in the river, perhaps, or residue from walking through the storm. I have no recollection of walking through the storm. Did he carry me in here? I raise my head slightly. Lucifer's eyes fly open. So he wasn't asleep, though he certainly should be; his face is drawn with exhaustion and his eyes are pale. My throat feels sore and inflamed. I test my voice. "Hi." He shakes his head. "Lie still. You'll open up the wound on your head again." "What happened?" "You took an iceberg to the head." I snort. "Slight exaggeration, don't you think? It was like an ice cube. Not even that--a piece of hail." He gives me a disbelieving stare. "Why are you making a joke?" he asks, his voice more sincerely puzzled than annoyed. "Because I'm happy. We're both alive." He shrugs. "I guess." "And I have you to thank for that, don't I?" Another shrug. "I guess." "Has anyone ever told you that you have stellar conversation skills?" "No one's ever dared." "Good. Your conversation skills suck." I prop myself up, ignoring his growl of annoyance. My head does hurt something terrible, but I don't want to lie on the floor forever. "How did you get up here?" "I climbed." My eyes rove around the cave. Empty. "Where's the asara?" "Gone. In the River Thorn." I swear loudly. "How did you manage, then?" No response. I sigh. "Sorry." "I thought you were dead at first," he says. "I thought you were gone." Sensing more, I wait, silent. But he doesn't say anymore. I think he can't, rather than he won't. I glance towards the entrance of the cave. "Do you hear that?" I ask quietly. Lucifer frowns. "Hear what?" I struggle to my feet. Lucifer's eyes darken like storms. "Everly, so help me, not even the danged stars you watch so constantly will be able to help you if you don't lie down this instant--" "The stars I watch?" I ask, unable to stop myself. "Do you watch me watch the stars?" He growls. "I don't hear anything." "I do." "That's called the wind." I give him an unamused look. The noise comes again. A cry, barely distinguishable over the shouting storm. This time Lucifer hears it too; I see his face tense. "Not to be smug, but I told you so." I take a step towards the rock-covered entrance. The world spins around me, and suddenly I find myself lying flat on the floor, my head aching in vicious retribution for my trying to move. I can't help but whimper. Lucifer is at my side in a flash. "I'll go check it out on one condition. You stay here." His tone is nearly a snarl, but this time I can clearly hear the fear underneath. "Be careful," I say urgently. "Please be careful." He walks over to the rock sealing the entrance. "Brace yourself," he says, and throws his weight against it. With an awful grinding noise, the rock starts to move. Bitter wind and snow whip into the cave. I shudder and press against the far wall, feeling snowflakes bridge my lashes and icy fingers of cold wrap around my legs. I open my mouth to utter a farewell, but Lucifer has already bounded outside, his white pelt swallowed up by the much larger whiteness of the blizzard. I feel weak and helpless. I thought I was being brave by going up Thorn Mountain to get the ascara, but that was a futile effort. I risked my life, plus Miko's and Ruta's, just for a few purple leaves that are now in the belly of the River Thorn. Then I took a chunk of ice to the head and forced Lucifer to have to take care of me. Time drags torturously as I wait in the little cave. The air becomes colder and colder, but I don't dare move the rock back over the entrance, in case I lock Lucifer out. Finally, I've had enough of waiting. It might just feel like an eternity I've been in here; it might actually have been only a few minutes since Lucifer left. But I can't stand it any longer. I hobble towards the cave entrance and don't pause in the doorway before pushing on into the wintery world. The cold is alive. It tears into me like a phantom wolf, sinking into my bones, piercing my entire body. I feel my pelt stiffen to ice. I can hardly see; I accidentally step off an outcrop of rock into midair and go rolling down the slope, feet flying over my head. I land up to my ears in a giant snowdrift. I raise my head, shaking from the surprise of the fall, and feel something warm trickle down my head. The wound has reopened. I can feel the blood turning to ice; it's almost a blessing, although terribly painful, for otherwise I would surely bleed to death before I got back to the cave. I flounder till I'm out of the snowdrift. Every inch of my pelt is caked with snow by this point, and every time I shake it off, another layer comes sweeping on on the relentless wind. I soon give up, accepting the extra weight; the cold wetness hardly makes a difference when I'm already as cold and wet as I can be. A series of shadows flash in front of me, appearing and disappearing with every gust of snow that blows across the slope. I let out a hoarse shout and listen--it takes several minutes, but I hear something in response. I strike out towards the shadows. Gradually, as I get closer, the shouts snap into discernible words. Someone shouting my name. "Everly! Everly!" It's Jett. His black pelt is, like mine, almost covered completely with snow. I don't believe it; I look past him and see Lucifer, Calder, Farrah, and Plover all clustered together. They are digging frantically. "What's going on?" I holler, accepting Jett's paw and letting him pull me over. Lucifer whirls around. Horror shows plainly on his face. "You are so stupid!" he screams. I ignore this. I forge ahead till I'm standing at his side. "What are--" I break off as I see something in the snow they've been churning away. A paw. I meet Plover's eyes, shocked into silence. "Eider," I whisper. And then I'm digging with them, digging as if my life depends on it. The little she-cat's body is unbelievably cold. Her mouth and nose are tinged blue. Her whiskers and lashes are rimmed in ice. "There's no way. She's going to die, if she's not dead already," Jett says. "Guys, we've got to save ourselves." Lucifer's eyes are burning with an odd light. "You go on." He pushes me towards Jett. "Get back to the cave." "What are you doing?" I watch as he slips underneath Eider, hoisting her limp body up on his shoulders. "You can't carry her all the way, Lucifer," says Farrah. She sounds like she's going to cry. "It's okay." She wraps her tail around Plover, who doesn't seem able to speak. "We have to leave her." Lucifer pushes past Farrah. He walks over to me, moving slowly under the dead weight of Eider. "I need this," he whispers, so softly only I can hear him. "I killed Dawnlight, Everly. I have to... I have to be able to live with myself, somehow." I can tell immediately that I won't be able to convince him otherwise. Giving him a nod that I hope looks much more assured than I feel, I turn back to the others. "Jett. Look up. As hard as you can, try to see past all the snow and wind. You should see an overhang." His eyes narrow, but he does as I instruct. After several moments, he finally nods. "I see it." "Go towards it. When you hit it, you'll see a large boulder halfway blocking the entrance to a cave. Get the others inside." "What about you?" I glance over my shoulder. Lucifer is putting up a valiant struggle to carry Eider, but he's up to his shoulders in snow. "I'll be right behind you guys," I promise. "Please, Jett. I'm counting on you." Our eyes lock. Jett pushes his nose against my cheek. "You better be right behind us, Everly, or I swear..." He doesn't finish the thought, motioning for the others to follow him. Once I'm sure they're headed in the right direction, I turn around and grab Lucifer's neck-scruff, pulling him out of the drift he'd gotten stuck in. "Let's go!" I shout in his ear. If the wind shifts even the tiniest bit, we won't even be able to see the overhang or the cave. We could wander in circles and die just tail-lengths from shelter. I press against Lucifer, so that half of Eider's weight comes down on my shoulders. He's too exhausted to even protest. Leaning on each other and staggering under our burden, we begin the torturous uphill climb. Every muscle in my body files a screaming complaint with my brain with every step. As the wind blinds me and purple-blue frostbite threatens my toes, I contemplate giving in. It would be so easy, almost peaceful, to collapse and let the snow bury me, to be frozen for the rest of time, wrapped in the snug embrace of the wind and held close to the cold, unfeeling heart of the polar zone. If I died today, I could see my parents, Starlight, and Juniper. But how could I possibly face them? I hadn't accomplished anything. Lucifer's asara was gone. DiAngelo still hunted my friends and threatened the very existence of cats on Thorn Mountain. The Triad was still under Greer's cruel control, and no one was standing up against Collection or her use of drugs and manipulation to terrorize them with Lucifer. Focus on here and now, I tell myself. I can see something gray flashing through the snow. "The cave! We're almost there!" I'm not sure how we make it those final steps. The next thing I know, Jett and Farrah are hauling me into the cave. Lucifer and Eider collapse in a heap behind me, and Calder and Plover slide the rock so it seals the entrance once more. The warmth entering my bones feels like someone is physically reaching into my insides. My toes burn and my insides twist as ice and fire battle. I bite down on my tongue to keep from screaming and feel blood trickle down the line of my jaw. Jett curls around me, lending me his body heat. "You're going to be okay," he whispers. I scramble to my paws. "What about Eider?" Plover is bent over her sister. She looks up, tears glistening in her eyes, and I fear the worst. But then she whispers, "She's breathing." "What can we do?" asks Calder desperately. "Keep warm. That's all we can do." Farrah buries her face in his shoulder, melting ice dripping from her whiskers onto his pelt. He doesn't care in the least; he wraps his tail around her and pulls her in so fiercely that they appear to be one cat where they connect. While the others cluster together, I crawl over to Lucifer, who looks like he's passed out. "Hey. Lucifer?" I nudge him, and his eyelids flutter open. "Everly," he whispers. "Did we... make it?" "Yeah. We're safe." "And... Eider?" "She's alive. Thanks to you." He smiles weakly, and I give a shaky laugh. "Mind if I pass out next to you?" In response, he shifts over, and I fill the gap. "That was really brave. What you did." "It was the least I could possibly do, after what I've done." "Lucifer... Sometimes the past is just the past." He shakes his head. "Let's not talk about it right now." I dip my chin at him. "Okay. We can fight our demons tomorrow." "Everly." "What?" His eyes scan my face, all seriousness. Then he glances away. "Sometimes I can't believe I'm the one on drugs," he mutters. I can't help the laugh that escapes me as I swat his ear. "Very funny. Is that your way of saying thank you?" "No. This is." He leans forward and touches his nose to mine. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done out there if you hadn't helped." An uncanny warmth rushes over me. Friendship--but it didn't feel like this when Jett touched me. "You're welcome. We all need somebody." Category:Polar Zone